10 Must-Have Art Supplies for Unlimited Crafts with Kids (Part I)

Arts & Crafts activities can provide endless hours of creative fun for children. But many parents often wonder: what art supplies do I really need to keep in my craft closet?

We recommend starting out with the basics. Once you have a few fundamentals, your child will have plenty of inspiration to explore and create wonderful crafts! Finding more wall space for their masterpieces? We leave that up to you

Here’s Part 1 of our “Top 10 Must-Haves” List:

Paper
With so many different paper choices, are you wondering “What’s the difference?” Here are some quick tips: Specialty papers are designed for a particular medium or purpose. Examples: Finger Paint Paper is thicker and absorbs more liquid than regular paper so that the paper won’t warp; Construction paper is thicker than writing paper, etc.

Color-it!
Stock up on PLENTY of crayons, colored pencils and/or markers. Just providing drawing paper and colored pencils can usually spark your child’s creativity. TIP: If your child gets stuck on what to draw, try some “starters.” Starters are a drawing (or start of a drawing) or an object applied to a piece of paper to help get a child’s creative juices flowing. Examples would be drawing a tree trunk, the start of a face, outline of an object, or gluing an object such as a piece of ribbon or a plastic gem onto the paper. The “starter” becomes a point of inspiration!

Stickers Stickers Stickers
What jazzes up an art project better than stickers? With so many themes to choose from, you can never have too many stickers or run out of ways to use them. Keep plenty in your craft area including the ones that come free in the mail. Stickers make great “starters” too (see above).

Via @angehayden

Get Attached to Creativity – Glue and Tape
Nothing adds excitement to a child’s art project like letting him use glue or tape! Cover an area with glue and add texture with household items – anything from buttons to colored sugar. Or, create a collage from magazine photos your child has cut out. Try masking tape for creating interesting patterns: apply masking tape to construction paper in any pattern, paint, and then remove the tape. Use clear tape for repairs, but also for paper construction projects.

What are the top Arts & Crafts supplies in your house? Leave your favorites in the comments below, or join the conversation with us on Facebook!

Stay tuned. Our final 5 must-have art supplies will be posting next week!

[...] of creative fun for children – but what do you really need to keep in your craft closet? Part one of our “Top 10 Must-Have Art Supplies” post featured some of the basics, such as crayons, specialty paper, and stickers! Now let’s [...]

[...] of creative fun for children – but what do you really need to keep in your craft closet? Part one of our “Top 10 Must-Have Art Supplies” post featured some of the basics, such as crayons, specialty paper, and stickers! Now let’s [...]

Perfect for traveling! We’ve partnered with our friends at Highlights for Children to bring some extra creative fun to your children this summer, with our FREE 10-page Boredom Busters printable activity book for kids! Check it out!